So I understand that high moi irons are more resistant to twisting on off center strikes making them more forgiving, but does this also make high MOI irons more resistant to intentional face angle adjustments by the golfer? Like opening and closing the face with our hands? In other words, does it require more effort or force to open or close the face of high moi irons than low moi irons?
The head is a free wheeling object at impact. It operates on it’s own mass and dimensional characteristics. I know that is a hard concept to get ones head around, but it is true. Cochran and Stobbs came to that conclusion back in the 60’s. Within that truth, heads with horizontal cg’s more towards the heel can rotate more quickly than models with cg’s more towards the toe. However, the amount of this that can occur in irons is not as significant as it is in drivers simply because of the size of the head and the differences in the cg location that can exist. Much more likely to be able to create a draw bias in a 460 cc driver than a an iron head of reasonable and normal size.
Some will tell you that it is more difficult to “work” the ball with higher MOI designs than lower MOI designs. Actually, that is another false idea. If we assume one hits the ball in the center of the face, you can work the ball just as easily with a high MOI than a low MOI design. The difference in how much a ball will move between those two designs comes when the ball is hit off center. Higher MOI designs will move less. Path, face angle and club head speed control the direction and movement of the ball significantly more than any other element.
I doubt any player with today’s equipment could honestly say it’s more difficult to control the clubhead during the swing with any particular design just because of it’s cg location.
Britt Lindsey